“You Don’t Have to Be Poor.” A Lesson in Budgeting in a Very Surprising Place.
A Covid-driven lesson in taking charge of your life bears remarkable results in a very short time
(Dear Reader, my photos are still unavailable, working on that, my apologies)
Every year during Kilimanjaro’s climbing season, but for Covid, the slopes of this magnificent mountain are dotted with summit wanna-bes. Those intrepids are supported by a huge community of some twenty thousand porters, as well as guides and cooks, those who either grew up under Kili’s great shadow, or moved here to be able to do the work.
These are typically poor people, albeit the money they earn, especially when working with the right climbing operators, can make a huge difference. However, what they earn per day plus tips varies greatly. That is driven, in part,by whether or not they get porter work with the Partner companies who make up the Kilimanjaro Porter’s Assistance Project. This organization, which seeks to protect the quality of work life, pay and conditions for the porters on this very popular mountain, has worked hard to change the lives of the many. Porters’ pay can potentially support from five to up to even a hundred additional extended family members, which means to not have work can be devastating.
